When the Runnemede police chief alerted the Boy Scouts of America in 1961 that Troop 50's Scout leader was a sexual predator, the group's response was chilling.

"Well, we got another one," wrote a Scout executive as he notified other officials that the man’s name should be put in the organization’s confidential "Ineligible Volunteer Files," according to one of more than 1,200 secret files from the youth organization released today under court order.

Then, just a year later — and despite his inclusion in the clandestine file — the 25-year-old man was approved by the Boy Scouts to work with youngsters in Houston.

In July 1967, a then-32-year-old district Scout executive resigned from the Boy Scouts after a youngster told police the man had molested him inside a camping tent in Stillwater. The Bayonne man’s name, too, was placed in the "Ineligible Volunteer Files."

But in 1992, he was able to latch on as a probationary member of a troop in Denver.

And in October 1967, a 27-year-old man was accused of fondling a 9-year-old Bloomfield boy in a two-person sleeping bag at Camp Ochsner in Stillwater. But decades later, in 1990, the same victim — then an adult — heard that the alleged abuser was still involved in scouting. Nothing had ever been done to remove the man from his contact with boy scouts.

The internal files released today were compiled by the Boy Scouts between the early 1960s and 1985 on child molesters operating in their midst.

The Oregon Supreme Court had ordered that the thick dossiers, unofficially called the "Perversion Files" by Scout officials, be made public. Other information on thousands of cases involving Scout leaders has been made public in recent weeks, but they were cursory summaries of cases for the most part.

The released files show, in deep detail and in dramatic ways, that the Boy Scouts of America had collected information on allegedly abusive Scout leaders for decades — from newspaper clippings, internal Boy Scout memos and letters, and court and police documents.

The Schiff Nature Preserve in Mendham, where Boy Scouts spent many summers camping and working on the trails.Jennifer Brown/The Star-Ledger

What’s more, the released dossiers also appear to show that some abusers were able to sneak their way back into the Boy Scouts, even after they’d been blacklisted as a "Perversion File" predator.

During a news conference today in Portland, Ore., a lawyer whose lawsuit against the Boy Scouts ultimately led to the release of the files, called on the U.S. Congress to oversee the organization’s efforts to reform itself and better protect its children.

"We’re asking Congress to verify — to audit — that the Boy Scouts are doing what they say they are doing," Kelly Clark, the advocate lawyer, told a group of reporters just moments before his law firm posted the files on its website.

"The secrets are out. Child abuse thrives in secrecy, that’s where it breeds," he said, while rejecting the Boy Scouts’ argument that releasing the files could deter future victims from coming forward.

Clark explained many former Scout leaders had targeted upwards of 25 children a piece. He also said that because some troops had about 20 to 25 young members, "these guys (the abusers) were basically in a candy store.” By contrast, Clark said, in the Catholic Church, priests would often only have access to a few altar boys at a time.

In a statement released today, the Boy Scouts said they would comprehensively review all the "Ineligible Volunteer Files" dating to the early 1960s and notify the authorities of cases when it appeared necessary to do so.

The organization added, "Our policies have always required Scouting to adhere to state laws in reporting abuse. Today, it is mandatory that any good-faith suspicion of abuse is immediately reported to law enforcement. In the files released today, police were involved in nearly two-thirds (63 percent) and a majority of these files (58 percent) included information known to the public."

But Clark said during the news conference that, despite statements, promises and apologies made by the Boy Scouts in recent weeks and years, his research shows that abuses continue.

"Each week it seems," he said, "many, many cases are still coming out all the time — cases of Boy Scout leaders abusing children."

In New Jersey, a review of the dossiers released today shows that Boy Scouts screened out some abusers by inclusion in the secret files. But the files also reveal that in numerous cases, the system did not work.

The Star-Ledger is not naming any of the accused abusers from the files because the paper has not been able to verify the allegations and criminal charges allegedly brought against them in the past. Many of the incidents are decades old.

The then-32-year-old district Scout executive mentioned above resigned for "a homosexual act with a Scout while at Camp Towadena (in Stillwater)," according to a report in the file. But the secret files also show that he reapplied for the Boy Scouts in 1992 in Denver.

Questions arose regarding his past, and a memo on letterhead from the Denver troop to the Scouts’ main office in Texas stated no one could locate the man’s Social Security number and he had no driver’s license.

But a handwritten note scribbled on that letter made it clear the Scout leader would remain with the organization.

"Married, good family — 2 kids, no problems, very committed," the note read.

Finally, on March 27, 2002, the Boy Scouts tried to oust him.

A letter from the Boy Scouts’ director of registration services explicitly stated that he remained in the "Ineligible Volunteer Files" and should "sever all relationships with the Boy Scouts of America. Do not use the standard revocation letter," the director, Edward Weisshaar, instructed the Denver area Scout executive. "This individual is not entitled to a regional review."

But another handwritten note scribbled on that letter and filed in the Denver office disregarded that order. "Concerning case which is probationary, letter should not be sent," it said, referring to the planned expulsion notice. "I check on his status in unit and he doing fine."

New Jersey's secret Boy Scout files

Below are files compiled by the Boy Scouts of America from the early 1960s to 1985 on scout leaders and volunteers who were accused of sexual abuse. The list, called the "perversion files" by the Scouts were ordered released in June by the Oregon Supreme Court. The files were made public today by Kelly Clark, an attorney in Portland, Ore., who represented a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Scouts that resulted ina a $20 million judgment. The complete list can be viewed at kellyclarkattorney.com. Some of the files contain graphic descriptions that may not be appropriate for all readers.